Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-08-19
ALA, Qa.'ts'naii,;
A BROWNING CITY.
BY II. Rider Haggard, Author Of
"Ring Solornon's Mines, she. Dawn, etc.
CHAPTER m.-rHE MISSION STATION.

we maze the OF our DOdJ IhsJ ID
the other canoe, and sat waiting for the
dawn, and congratulating ourselves upon
our merciful escape, which really seemed
to result more from the special favor OF
Providence than from our own care or
prowess At last 1t came, and have not
often been more grateful to see the light,
though so far as my canoe was concerned
it revealed ghastly sight. There in the
bottom of the little boat lay the unfortun-
ate Askari, the SINE, or sword. in his bOs-
ON and the severed hand gripping the
handle ] could not bear the sight; so haul
ing NJ the stone which had served as an,
anchor TO the other canoe, we made it fast
u the murdered man and dropped him
overheard, and down he went TO the bot
tom, leaving nothing but train Of bubbles
behind hint Alas, when our time comes.
most of us, like him, leave nothing but
bubbles behind, to show that we have been,
and the bubbles soon burst. The hand OF
his murderer we threw into the stream,
and / saw a young crocodile seize it as it
was slowly sinking. The SINE, or sword,
of which the handle was ivory, inlaid with
gold evidently Arab work., ! kept and
used as a hunting knife, and very useful it
proved.
Then, man having been transferred 10
my canoe, we once more started on in very
low spirits and not feeling at all comforta
BILE as to the future, but fondly hoping to
fetch up at the "Iiighlands" station by
night. TO make matters worse, within an
hour of sunrise it came to rain in tor
rents, wctting to the skin, aud even ne
ccssitating the occasional baling Of the
canoes and ms the rain beat down the wind
we could not use our sails, and had To get
along IA best we could with our paddles.
At eleven O'Clock we halted on an open
piece Of gr und on the left bank of the
river, and, the rain abating n little, man
aged to make n fire and catch and boil
some fish. Wo did not dare to wander
about to search for game At two o'clock
we got off again, taking n supply of boiled
fish with us, and shortly attcrward the
rain came on harder than ever. Also, the
river began to get exceedingly difficult to
navigate on account OF the numerous
rocks, reaches of shallow water, and the
increased force Of the current; so that il
soon became clear to us that we should
not reach the Rev. Mackenzie's hospitable
roof that night-a prospect that did not
tend TO enliycn us. Toll as we would, we
could not mike more than an average of II
mile an hour; and mt five O'Clock in the af-
teruOon (by which time we were all utterly
worn OUT we reckoned that we were still
quite ten miles below the station. This
being 50, we set to work making the best
arrangements we could for the night AT
ter our recent experience, we simply did
not dare to land, more especially rs the
banks of the Tana were here clothed with
dense bush that would have given cover to
live thousand Nasal, and mt first thought
chat we were going to have another night
Of it in the canoes. Fortunately, however
we cspcd II little rocky islet, not more
than fifteen yards or SO square, situated
nearly in the middle of the river For this
Me padded, and making fast the canoes
landed and made ourselves rs comfortable
Us circumstances would permit, which was
very uncomfortable indeed As for the
weather, IL continued to be simply vile; the
ram coming down in sheets till we were
chilled to the marrow, and utterly prevent
ing us from lighting II fire. There was,
however one cnnsoling circumstance about
this rain; our Askari declared that nothing
would induce the Nasal to make an attack
IN il, rs they intensely dislike moving about
IA the wet; perhaps rs Good suggested,
because they hate the idea of washing,
We ute some insipid and soddcn cold
ilsh-that is with the exception Of I'm
slopogaas, who, like most Xulus, cannot
bear ashland then commenced what, with
one eXccption-whcn we three white men
nearly persisted of cold on the snow OF
Sheha9 Breast in the course of our Journey
to Observation-Disclosures, ] think, the most
trying night ever experienced. 1t seemed
absolutely endless; and once or twice /
feared that two OF the Askari would have
died Of the wet, cold, and exposure, for no
African people can stand much exposure,
Il. t.I.G I.
could see that oven that iron old warrior
tImslopogaas, felt il keenly; though, In
strange contrast to the Wakwafis, who
groancd and bcmoanod their fate unceas-
ingiy, he never uttered u single complaint
To make matters worse, about one in the
morning we again heard the owls omnous
hootng. and had Mt once To prepare our
selves for another attack; though IL any
body had attempted It, do not think that
We could have offered 4 very effective re-
sistanCc But either the owl was n bona
tide one this time, or else the Nasal were
themselves too miserable to think of often
sivc operations, which, indeed, they rarely,
# ever, undertake in hush veldt At any
rate VIC saw nothing of them.
Al last the dawn came gliding across the
water, wrapped in wreaths of ghostly
mist and, with the daylight the rain
ceased; and thea, OH joy out came the
glorious sun, sucking up the mistS and
warming the chill air. Benumbcd and ut
tcrly exhausted. we dragged ourselves to
our feet, and went and stood in the bright
rays, and were thankful for them can
quite understand how primitive people be-
eamo suu-worshipers, especially II their
conditions of life rendered them liable to
exposure
In half an hour moro we were again max
ing fair progress with the help of coed
wind. 1t seemed that our spirits had re-
turned with the sunshine, and we were
ready TO laugh at difficulties and dangers
that had been almost crushing on the
previous day.
And so we went on cheerily till about
eleven O'Clock just as We were thinking
of hating rs usual, to rest and try to shoot
something To eat, n sudden bend in the
river brought us fin sight OF " Substantial
looking European house with a veranda
round it, splendidly situated upon n hill.
and surrounded by n high stone wall with
ditch on the outer side. Right against
and overshadowing the house was an enor-
nous pine. the top OF which we had seen
through glass for the last two DAYS. but of
course without knowing that it marked
the site of the mission station. | was the
first to see the house, and could not re-
strain myself from giving n hearty cheer,
in which the others, including the natives,
joined Justify. There was no thought of
haltiug now. On we labored, for. unfor-
tunatcly, though the house seemed quite
near, il was still a Ion way Off by river
until ut last, by one O'Clock, W found our
selves ut the bottom Of the slope on which
the building stood. Running the canoes
to the bank, we looked out. and were Just
hauling them up on the shore, when we
perceived three figures, dressed in ordinary
English-looking clothes, hurrying down
through grove Of trees TO meet us.
"A gentleman, a lady, and little girl"
CALCULATED Good, after surveying the trio
through his eye-glass walking in a civil
lied fashion, through civilized garden.
to meet us in this place. Hang me. if this |
isn't the most curious thing we have seen
yet"
Good was right it certainly did seem odd
and ont of place-more like a scene out of
dream or Italian opera than a real tang
IDLE fact; and the sense OF unreality was
not leSsened when we heard ourselves adj
dressed in good broad Scotch, which, how
ever. | cannot reproduce.
How do you do, sirsy" said Nj. Mac
keuzie, a gray-haired, angular man. with a
kindly face and red cheeks; II hope | see
You very well. My natives told me an